We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism

HuffPost journalist Campbell debuts with a searing report on the rise of the Proud Boys during the Trump era. Launched by Vice magazine founder Gavin McInnes in 2016, the Proud Boys are, Campbell writes, “a street gang, motivated almost entirely by political violence and bigotry.” Members, who earn their “degrees” within the group mainly through violent acts, took leading roles in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and the January 6 Capitol riot. In addition to explaining how the Proud Boys gained mainstream influence through “interpersonal relationships with the media, law enforcement, and the GOP, all the way up to Trump’s inner circle,” Campbell profiles those working to counter the group, including Black Lives Matter activist Jalane Schmidt; researcher Juliet Jeske, who analyzed hundreds of hours of The Gavin McInnes Show and shared her findings with the media; and infiltrators like Ashley (no last name given), a “Democrat-turned-antifascist” who pretended to be an “ ‘idiot’ drenched in spray tan” to get invited to Proud Boy events. Riddled with jaw-dropping examples of the group’s extreme rhetoric and violent actions, this is a distressing and doggedly reported account of the dangers of political extremism. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Oct.)